A/N: Whew. I'm back again with the next installment of this epic tale of (insert adjective here).
LittleKing9512: Well, this one's longer, so…yeah.
Zero612: Welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself.
Manakete King: Yes, the delay was almost completely my fault. As for taking both, there's a whole plotline I have cooking in my brain that could go a few a different ways depending on the destruction/domination choices you guys and gals make.
General Herbison: Bomb beetles are for nooby Overlords. Real men…well, read on.
Wanhope: Thank you. I think two mistresses is already enough as it is. I'm already bending the Overlording rules by allowing two in the Dark Tower.
Today's chapter is brought to you by Dark Side of the Moon, Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and Black and Blue as those were the albums that I listened to while writing it.
Disclaimer: I now Overlord! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! No, just kidding. I only own my OC's which happen to take up 90% of the characters in this fic. In fact, Gnarl and Giblet are the only main characters created by the developers. Enjoy.
Chapter XXXV: Kill It with Fire
The worm slammed into the patch of earth Hanson had previously occupied, its mass kicking sufficient amounts of loose earth to provide the Overlord with a momentary smokescreen to reevaluate his situation. Despite the mysterious new vision granted to him, Hanson had no intention of pushing his luck. The Overlord's right arm was thoroughly mauled by the worm's previous attack, and the Arcanium blade was at the other end of the chamber. Advantages: Left arm wields magic. Smaller size means more maneuverability. New sight eliminates worm's ambush tactics. Disadvantages: Right arm broken and bleeding heavily. No weapons left. These thoughts flew through the Overlord's head at light speed as he examined the temporarily confused worm with his new eyes. It appeared shocked that its prey had evaded its maw so far.
The beast had thick layers of armor plating that were made of some flexible material and thus there were no gaps in its hide. The worm's belly was covered by the same plates which left the Overlord with only one feasible alley of attack: eyes and mouth.
As Hanson worked out his plan of action, the worm homed in on his location and rose to its full height, ready to strike. Its maw opened teeth ready to tear through the hapless human that had managed to avoid it thus far. The Cha'Kata surged forward only for its teeth to meet earth again as the Overlord rolled back a short distance. The impact of the creature's head caused minor shockwaves as the earth rumbled in sympathy and Hanson almost lost his footing before charging towards the worm's head. As he neared its massive form, the Overlord charged his left gauntlet with fire magic, an aura of bright orange flames bursting into light. The creature turned its massive head and opened its mouth for another strike.
Hanson smiled grimly in the dark and unleashed the built up flames, the inferno soaring towards the worm and scattering the darkness. Somewhere in its primitive mind, the beast recognized that this prey was tougher than any that had come before, but as the thought was churning through its brain, the flames connected with the worm's wide open mouth.
The Cha'Kata were a species adept at underground predation, their hunting instincts honed over the millennia they spent hunting primitive dwarves and other subterranean dwellers. Even when the worms had been all but driven to extinction by the dwarves they had been killed by enchanted weaponry and sheer overwhelming numbers. While an offshoot of the species colonized the Ruborian desert, those that remained dug themselves deep into the earth and waited in a state of hibernation. Over the centuries, all but one had perished for various reasons, the most famous incident having been two hundred years previously when a farmer had accidentally run across the burrow of one of the worms while plowing his fields. The half-asleep worm had gobbled up the farmer, his plow, most of the household, and the first battalion of guards that had come before disappearing underground.
None of those instincts could help against the wild beasts' most famous enemy: fire. Hanson's inferno ignited the worm's tongue and other sensitive tissue, sending waves of pain surging through its nervous system. As the Cha'Kata writhed in agony, the Overlord rushed over to the other side of the room to pick up his fallen blade. Luckily, Gnarl had had the foresight to make sure Hanson was trained ambidextrously. The Overlord gripped the familiar hilt in his left hand and prepared to finish the writhing worm off.
By this time however, the creature had put the flames out by biting into the earth and stifling the fire through lack of oxygen. Through his new sight, Hanson could tell the creature was none too pleased about the state of affairs. In fact, it looked absolutely murderous. The Overlord tightened his grip on his sword before rushing forward. The worm lashed out with its tail, but Hanson managed to barely avoid the sweeping appendage.
While sprinting forward, the Overlord focused all of his mana into the Arcanium blade until it was positively bursting with power. As the worm opened its mouth to hiss threateningly, Hanson released the pent up energy in a beam the width of his blade. The mana scythed through the air with a unearthly shriek before penetrating the roof of the worm's mouth and piercing its brain.
The lifeless corpse dropped to the ground, kicking up more loose earth as in its postmortem twitching. The Overlord sank to his knees in relief before submitting to his body's desire to lie down. As the adrenaline haze began to retreat, Hanson began to hear the voices of Gnarl and his two mistresses over the psychic link.
"Can you hear me sire?" The minion master asked for what felt like the millionth time. "Yeah," Hanson murmured as he gazed at the ceiling. The mysterious sight he had acquired brought the world around him into much greater focus. The level of visible detail had increased to the point that the Overlord could see the tiny imperfections in the earthen ceiling above. "Sire, your minions are coming to retrieve you, so I recommend not moving until they get there. After that, it would be best for you to return to the tower."
"No, there's still work to be done. The elves are here somewhere and I will find them before they slip away," Hanson replied. "I'm still in fighting shape" he lied as the retreating adrenaline exposed him to the waves of pain that his right arm and ribs were issuing. A short while later, the Overlord's minion horde entered the room, the reds acting as portable torches while the browns lugged a massive chest inside. The minions heaved the chest's lid open and produced three flasks: red, blue, and green.
"These potions will restore you sire," Gnarl said over the link. "If you're dead set on continuing, at least drink these." Hanson pulled off his helmet, bit into the cork of the red potion and pulled it out before spitting the cork away. From the first gulp, the effects of the red potion were apparent. The Overlord's right arm began to stitch itself together, broken bones reforming instantaneously and wounds sealing themselves up. Hanson flexed his right arm and once satisfied took the blue bottle. Its elixir restored the mana the Overlord had used up and the green's removed Hanson's fatigue like it was nothing more than a troublesome insect.
Feeling stronger than he had in the last few hours, the Overlord leapt to his feet and took a few experimental swings with his sword. Except for his torn armor, Hanson was back to the peak of health. "Sire, while your new vision is advantageous, I recommend not using it for the time being as it drains you unnecessarily," Gnarl piped up again. With a shrug of acquiescence the Overlord returned his blade to its sheath and conjured a small ball of fire to light his surroundings before withdrawing the mana flowing to his eyes. The world returned to its multicolored state and it was only then that Hanson realized that the new sight he possessed saw the world in various shades of black and white. The Overlord blinked owlishly as his eyes got used to the light and placed the Arcanium helmet back onto his head.
"Judging from the location of the worm's den, I would have to assume that the elves did not come by here at all," Assira said thoughtfully, resting her chin oh her hands as she gazed into the magical pool that was the tower portal. Hanson nodded and began to stride out of the chamber towards the tunnel that had led him into the beast's grasp. Once back inside the rectangular passage, the Overlord began to follow it once again, minions in tow.
The journey was uneventful except for the steady increase in heat the longer the group followed the tunnel. Soon, the temperature in the tunnel rivaled that of the jungle forest Everlight and Hanson began to sweat under the layers of armor. Behind him, the minions began to argue about what was causing the heat to rise. "I bets thwee maggots that Blaze is the one!" a brown called Spur argued. He had received the name from his weapon: a riding boot with shiny gold spurs, the unfortunate rider's leg still attached. The red minion in question stuck out his tongue and blew a flaming raspberry at Spur.
"No, no," a green called Flash said. He had received his name (and the accompanying scar over his right eye) after he had "accidentally" (or so he claimed) walked in on Assira while the mistress was changing. The woman's fury had rivaled that of an elder dragon and the only reason Flash had survived the onslaught of knives and other lethal thrown object with only a scar was because of his unusually good survival instincts. The minion dove inside of a bathtub that was filled to the brim with soapy water and thus hid himself from view and lost the smell greens were known for in one fell swoop.
"I bets it's because someone light fire ahead of us," Flash said. "I smell magic," a blue called Lucky said. Lucky had lost his left eye in the first war Hanson's adoptive father had had with William. During one training session with Hanson, Lucky lost his right leg below the knee and had to hop around on one foot for days until a suitable peg leg had been found. A few years later, Lucky lost his left ear to a particularly zealous farmer's axe. When Hanson had asked why the minion was named Lucky, Gnarl had sighed and handed the young Overlord a book titled How to Use Irony for Dummies. The book's title, as Hanson later found out, was also ironic.
The Overlord spotted a light ahead and doused his fire before cautiously moving forward. The party emerged from the tunnel into a large well-lit chamber that resembled a courtyard. The floor was inlaid with cobblestone and there was a tall, vaulted ceiling supported by stone pillars. There were large fires lit at orderly intervals to light up the area. At the other end of the chamber there was iron-wrought wooden gate guarded by several platoons of elves in ornate ceremonial armor.
The guards turned to face the intruders as Hanson approached and stiffened with fear. The Overlord had not washed the grime of today's previous battles off, so the sudden appearance of a black armored warrior covered in the blood of slain enemies and his horde of loyal soldiers was more than the elves could handle. They were just ceremonial guards after all, trained to look good and stand for long intervals, not to do any actual fighting. As the elves milled about indecisively, survival instincts battling it out with their loyalty to the rulers of elvenkind, Hanson got tired of waiting.
"May I make a suggestion?" He asked in a magically amplified voice. "Run." That was all the encouragement the elven soldiers needed to scatter and run towards the tunnel, dropping their weapons as they ran. The only one who didn't run must have been some sort of veteran. His hair was snow white and his face lined with past hardships. "I give you credit for your bravery," Hanson said. "But I suggest you hand over the gate key and go."
"What gate key?" The elf asked, eyebrow raised. "I know nothing about any gate keys." The Overlord rolled his eyes inside the privacy of his helmet and turned to the horde behind him. "Gruul, tear his arms off." The minion is question, a tough-looking brown with multiple piercings in his long ears and several long scars and an eye patch from the time he had fought an axe wielding troll. Gruul had lost an eye. The Troll lost its life and the dual axes that the brown now planted firmly into the ground before threateningly cracking his knuckles and loping towards the aging elf.
"You mean this gate key?" The elf as he produced an ornate golden key inlaid with runes. He thrust the key into the Overlord's hands and took off running. Shaking his head, Hanson inserted the key into the gate's keyhole and turned. The minion horde then threw all their numbers into pushing it open until the gate shattered from stress. It was only then that Hanson realized the gate needed to be pulled outwards.
"Shut up," he muttered over the link as Assira snickered and Gnarl coughed over something that sounded suspiciously like a snort. In fact, Elizabeth was the only one who did not produce any noise of amusement. The Overlord and his minion horde entered the tunnel that lay beyond and followed it until they reached the exit some scant minutes later.
This exit opened into something unlike Hanson or his three backseat drivers had never seen before. Before them lay a valley that ended in a beachside resort complete with palm trees and other tropical vegetation as well as typical resort buildings made of thatch. The most incredible and unbelievable part was the fact that the vegetation was real and that the entire area was lit up by what appeared to be miniature sun.
"That is quite the artifact they have there," Gnarl said, clearly impressed. "If it can sustain an underground ecosystem, it must be incredibly powerful indeed." Hanson nodded in mute agreement and looked around for a path leading towards the resort. A quarter of an hour later, the Overlord and his horde arrived at the bottom of the valley and followed the single lane road to the resort walls. The elves inside must have felt quite safe as the gate was completely unguarded. Hanson shrugged and went inside, minions following.
Inside the resort's thatch walls a massive celebration was in full swing. Hundreds of elves danced as a group of musicians played on a stage in the center of the subdivision that the Overlord had entered. Nearby, more elves relaxed on lawn chairs facing the beach and the crashing waves of the underground lake. Attractive serving girls dressed in clothes that left very little to the imagination wandered the grounds with trays of delicacies and drink or danced onstage with the musicians. As Hanson took this scene in, he heard a choking noise over the link. "It appears that Gnarl has gone into shock," Assira said dryly.
The Overlord gestured to his minions and they spread to encircle the crowds to prevent any hope of escape. Then, Hanson fired off a fireball and blew it up in mid air. The band stopped playing and the elves turned to look at the intruder, fear invading their features. "The party is over. Try to run and you will be slain. Cooperate, and you will live," Hanson said as he gazed at the crowd. The most elves mutely accepted their fate and began to trudge towards the tunnel under the watchful guard of the Overlord's minions. There were some isolated incidents of resistance that were quickly put down and persuaded the rest of the elves that cooperation was best. After all, the sight of their kin running around on fire was more than enough to cow what rebellious individuals remained.
"I advise that you decide what to do with that artifact sire." Gnarl said as he recovered from seeing more representations of female beauty than he had seen in the previous century. "You could take it back to the tower and destroy the resort. Giblet tells me it would provide the forge with substantial heat and make forging weapons and armor easier. Alternatively, you could leave it here and use the resort as an outpost and vacation spot for the winter months. Many of your future subjects would pay quite the handsome fee to come here and enjoy the fine fruit this place has to offer. Especially those serv-" Gnarl was cut off by what sounded like a stinging slap. "Especially the food and drink," the minion master concluded. "Which do you choose?"
A/N: Which do you choose? Let me know in the comments/reviews section.
As always, please let me know how I can improve and point out errors so I can correct them.